Wilmington-based IT service provider Hook Systems was acquired by Dataprise, a national IT and cybersecurity service provider, according to a recent announcement.
 
Hooks Systems services 165 clients in the Southeast and has operated as an independent company since 1995, a news release stated. The company’s clients will remain under Hooks Systems’ management but will have access to Dataprise’s cybersecurity and data protection services, according to Dataprise officials.
 
Dataprise has been acquiring smaller technology services companies since 2021 to expand the company’s geographic reach, its website states. Other companies Dataprise has recently acquired include Wireless Watchdogs, Reboot Networks and Airnet. These acquisitions have expanded Dataprise’s footprint from the Washington, D.C., area to California, New York, Texas, Colorado and now North Carolina.
 
"Joining forces with Dataprise is an exciting new chapter for Hooks Systems that will allow significant growth and opportunities for both our employees and clients," stated Gerald Hooks, owner and CEO of Hooks Systems, in a news release from MidStreet Mergers and Acquisitions, which represented Hooks Systems in the deal.
 
"Wilmington and the surrounding areas are rapidly growing markets and this acquisition helps build a strong foothold in the region to uncover new opportunities together to further attract new business,” Christian Fulmino, senior vice president of M&A at Dataprise, said in the release.
 
Dataprise is a portfolio company of Texas-based private equity firm Trinity Hunt Partners. The firm’s portfolio strategy is “buy and build,” which expands its portfolio companies’ businesses through acquisitions, as is the case with Dataprise.
 
Hooks Systems’ Wilmington clients include Wilmington Optometry, Cameron Management, Alpha Mortgage, Rountree & Losee and Cape Fear Retinal Associates.
 
Hooks Systems officials declined to disclose the terms of the deal.